Richard Blease - Hercules
Richard Blease, more commonly known by his pseudonym "Hercules", is a metahuman operating in the Metro Bay area. Thanks to a rather lavish family background, Richie has had the chance to use a combination of his money and his wits to create various contraptions which would later be put to use in his work as a vigilante. He is well known for his technical prowess, evidenced by his signature glider and flight suit. Biography Early years Richie was not born in Metro Bay, instead New York in the February of 1958. Born to a British father and American mother, Martin and Vera Blease, the young Richard was brought up in a wealthy household that offered plenty to him. However his early years were frought with medical problems due to his premature birth, among them poorly developed lungs and heart. Because of this Richie spent most of his first moments attached to a life support machine unable to support himself without them. After a week in intensive care Richie's condition was worsening and showed few signs of stablising. Overnight however, quite miraculously, Richie recovered. An examination had shown his deficient organs had repaired themselves and he appeared to be perfectly healthy. There was no sign that Richie had been clinging to life moments before. With the fear and pain behind the Blease family, Richie stood a chance at living a relatively ordinary life. He was raised on the finest education his parents could afford, private schooling and personal tuition, all of which Riche took to almost instantly. His intellect and ability to soak up information was more than impressive, in turn being able to process it to find new and better solutions to problems. His intelligence, particularly at such a young age, proved capable of alienating other students and discouraging them from interacting with Richie. As such, while he was incredibly intelligent and mature long passed his years, Richie lacked the social skills others of his age possessed. Mutation and Development Richie's inhuman abilities began to develop at eleven years old. Small bumps began to develop under his arms, at first believed to be cancerous. Later, x-rays of Richie's bone structure showed that he was in fact developing a joint and humerus beneath his current set of arms. The Blease family paid large sums of money to the doctors to both correct their Richie's condition and keep it all a secret, unwilling to let their son become a science experiment. Ritchie went through extensive surgery to correct his bone structure, leaving him with deep scars downs his body. Richie's body had healed perfectly, the scar tissue strangely absent and no further signs of abnormalities. As far most were concerned the operation had been a success. However, within six months of the operation, Richie could feel the bumps underneath his arms once again. This time, however, Richie was intrigued. He never spoke of them, hiding the new growths from his parents and letting them develop. By his thirteenth birthday they had developed into a full set of arms, slightly smaller than his primary pair but equipped with four fully functioning fingers and a thumb each. Richie managed to successfully hide the new appendages with the help of looser, thicker clothing. Splitting the Family As a result of his failed operation, Richie began to deviate away from the rest of his family. His operation and the response from his parents had left him alienated, believing that they cared more about him as a legacy than as a human being. In turn his parents' relationship began to degrade, strained by their child's new anti-social behaviour. This led to fights and arguments and, at the age of seventeen, Richie could see these fights escalate and lead to the verge of a divorce. The Blease family, unbeknownst to Richie, was swamped with debt. In a desperate attempt to save his family from bankruptcy, Martin Blease contacted a local loan shark to wipe away the debt. It backfired, now owing money to a gang of criminals. When Martin was unable to pay the gang took action. They brutally killed Vera and attempted to kill Richie, instead seriously injuring him and putting him in a coma. Richie was left unconscious and it was unsure if he would recover. He did after three months. He was quickly reminded of the death of his mother and learned of the imprisonment of his father. All of the evidence of the murder had been pinned on Martin and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Once out of hospital, Richie campaigned to have his father released, offering an alibi and an eye-witness account to support it. Unfortunately the evidence was mounted against him and Richie was accused of covering up for his father. Despite nearly being of age, Richie had been left orphaned. He left to live with his aunt and uncle, able to continue his private education with funding supplied from the sale of his parent's old property. When it came time to leave to fend for himself he gathered what money of his parents remained and left. Wealth and Destitution Richie moved to Metro Bay shortly afterwards. Setting himself up in a small apartment, Richie began his new life. However he quickly ran out of money, unable to secure a job with few qualifications and with no other way to make money. He quickly delved into the stock market. Richie found he could analyse the tiniest patterns and factor in the effects of certain conditions related to them. In a month Richie believed he had devised a formula for the stock market. Richie almost became rich overnight, using his new wealth to abandon his apartment for much more lavish accomidation in the richer side of the city, adjusting to a more comfortable lifestyle. In this time, Richie had developed another set of arms, giving him eight limbs in total. Rise of Hercules Even into his thirties, memories of his mother and father plagued Richie's thoughts. Unable to sit around in silence he turned his attention back to his father's arrest. For over a year he searched for more information on the case and the gang responsible but he found nothing. The gang did not seem to exist by any record he could find. Richie's hunt was spurred on by the arrival of a stranger armed with information about the gang's whereabouts. He offered it on one condition; that the location of these criminals would be used to hunt them down and bring hard justice to them. Richie quickly accepted the deal. With the information the stranger supplied the pair left for New York, visiting the home of one of the members of the gang. Together Richie and the stranger worked to bring down the organisation. Over the course of the next half a month they had run down the group and found the exact location of their leader, a man by the name of Jeramiah Weston. After a brief fight with Weston's men, Richie and the stranger managed to corner the crime boss. He shot at Richie but the stranger stood in the bullet's path, sacrificing himself. Enraged, Richie fired his own gun, mortally wounded Weston and prepared to kill him. However he soon hear police sirens and unwilling to risk being arrested, Richie ran. He later found out Weston had been arrested for murder. However he was never connected to the death of Richie's mother leaving his father imprisoned. After the event, Richie returned home. Richie felt as if he had genuinely helped keep the people of New York by having Weston arrested and believed he could perform the same deeds here in Metro Bay. Looking to the memory of the stranger for inspiration, Richie decided that he would dedicate his life to becoming a vigilante. He pooled his mind and money together, designing several contraptions to disable criminals and enhance his own abilities and eventually fleshing out his vigilante persona. Taking the name Hercules, Richie began his work by establishing vast connections across Metro Bay and rooting out criminals where he found them. He quickly adapted to the new environment and news of his escapades spread across Metro Bay like wild fire. The rise of Hercules had begun. Alliance with the APCA Over the course of the next decade the reputation of Hercules continued to grow. Richie refined his technique, designing new technologies which he utilised in combat including the first drafts of his signature glider. He was no longer a vigilante, the once hostile press twisting to finally accept and even love him, hailing Richie as a hero in the crime filled streets of Metro Bay. As the threats grew more pronounced so did Hercules, fighting back entire gangs single-handedly and even taking on the occasional "super-villain" that stood in his way. It was during the late 1990s that Hercules became close friends with Skull-Man, another vigilante operating in Metro Bay. While they did not often see eye to eye on how to deal with the criminals they both respected each other's abilities and ultimate goals. They often teamed up to face greater threats that faced Metro Bay and Hercules' skill with manipulating the press was pivotal in changing Skull-Man's reputation as a psychotic mad-man to an eccentric hero. His technological developments caught the interests of the A.P.C.A., looking to utilise his developments in their own work. Instead of working with Richie they stole his technology, locating his home and accessing his personal data stores. Richie found out almost instantly but allowed them to take certain pieces of information at regular intervals. In 2002 Richie was contacted by an agent of the A.P.C.A., Natasha Frost, to work with them. Richie accepted, pretending that he was not aware of their attempts at spying on him, and quickly forged a close relationship with the personel of the A.P.C.A. Appearance Despite being in his late fifties, Richard has the appearance of a man twenty years younger than himself. Physically somewhere in his thirties, Richie has a lightly muscled figure and stands along the lower end of six feet tall. His is a man with dark skin and dark hair, cut short to avoid complications when donning his suit and to ensure the helmet is as comfortable as possible. A pair of dark brown eyes, large and almost black, rest long the centre of his face, surrounded by a collection of strong features. His jaw, while usually shaven, has been left to grow for the past few days, grafting a shadow along his jawline. Four of the most notable features of Hercules are his additional arms, positioned just underneath his primary set of arms. Two pairs, slightly smaller than his primary pair but certainly weaker. They clearly set him apart from regular human beings, resulting in Hercules developing several ways to hide them whilst in public. Personality Richie is a man who chooses to keep his cards close to his chest, showing some traits far more than he does others. At first glance he seemed to be independant and driven individual, devoted to his work. Richie can also appear anti-social as he seldom talks to those he is not close with and shudders at the thought of small talk. Richie would much rather be keeping his head down and refining his technology or solving a crime case rather than socialise. This can distance him from some who might consider him rude or apathetic to the cares of others. In reality it is the complete opposite as Richie has a strong sense of justice and it is rare to see him turning away from those in need. Regardless there is a facade of apathy there - of cold, cynical and sometimes sarcastic logic - that can discourage others from trying to convince him to open up. When Richie wears the Lionskin flightsuit though, donning the persona of Hercules, this shy and uncaring guise is disposed of in its entirety. In its place strikes a new and completely different Richie. Far more like Skull-Man in demeanour, Hercules is an aggressive, couragous, confident and sometimes childish figure, lusting after excitement and amusement in equal parts. He becomes a joker, both among his allies and his foes, and greatly enjoys berating his foes in a humorous manner during combat. That is not to say he is incapable of forming a serious thought as Hercules, simply that he prefers not to. Abilities Regenerative factor: While Hercules regenerates from wounds no faster than a normal human being his body seems to retain a fantastic memory of his peak physical condition. He can still be killed through disease or fatal injury as any human can, but given enough time and rest then all wounds will heal and return him to his most physically capable. Entire limbs are capable of being regrown and this means he is incapable of producing scar tissue, flesh sealing perfectly and looking as if he had never been wounded at all. This also renders him physically ageless, as Richie is nearly sixty years old and still has the physical appearance and abilities of a man in his early thirties. Heightened intelligence: Because his enhanced regenerative factor means his cells have incredibly healing capabilities, Richie has an abnormally high number of active brain cells. This has drastically improved his thinking processes, making him significantly more intelligent than any normal human could hope to be. His ability to absorb and remember information is truly outstanding. Aditional limbs: During his early teenage years, Richie's most drastic mutation began to appear. Beneath his original set of arms, an additional pair began to grow, and then another. By the time he was sixteen, both arms had fully grown and were just as capable, if slightly clumsier, than his primary pair. Their primary use is to work on mechanical or electronic projects much faster than any human could, although they provide him with an upper hand in combat, capable of landing six blows in the space a human would only be able to strike one. Equipment XT-04.52 Pegasu's Glider: The signature piece of equipment used by Hercules in battle. The glider, utilising incredibly advanced technology developed by Hercules himself, is capable of flight whilst being ridden by an individual. It possesses a platform on which to stand, boots magnetically locked to it, and two wing-like protrusions from either side. It is capable of reaching speeds of 200MPH when all energy is directed to the thrusters, and the bird-like design allows it to perform great feets of agility and maneuverability. While it was built with weaponry attachments in mind the glider is currently unarmed. XO-03.22 Lionskin Flight-Combat Weave: The Lionskin Flight-Combat Weave was first developed to work in tandem with the Pegasus glider. Hercules needed a way to resist the extreme forces that would be put onto the individial riding the glider but also a way to manage the systems of the device. So was born the XW-01.00, a flight suit designed to make glider travel safe and easy to control. It was a success. Hercules began to update the suit with new technologies and design modifications. As his career as a vigilante grew, Hercules felt the need to adapt the flight suit into a combat skin. After various prototypes the current Lionskin flight/combat suit was born. It was layered in treated kevlar to resist bullet and stab impacts. The controls for the Pegasus glider were refined, moving to glove-form which would be worn on his lower pair of arms, which finger twitches and signs regulating the glider. The headset was upgraded to include radio communications, sensory goggles to allow sight in low-light or blinding-light conditions and a built-in oxygen filter for toxic environments. Relationships Skull-Man: Richie, or at least Hercules, shows a surprising amount of tolerence to the antics of Skull-Man when compared to the other metahumans. Residents of the same locale and knowing each other, if not personally, for quite some time, Richie has a deep respect for the immortal. While their interests often differ, RIchie knows that Skull-Man is a worthy ally, loyal, powerful and slightly suicidal. Allison Lost - Ra: While it is true that Richie may be the closest to Allison out of all the protagonists of Hero's Legacy he still likes to give her a wide berth at all times. He understands and respects her power, but after finding that his many attemps to make her open up have failed he rarely attempts them anymore. Thankfully he knows that behind the quiet and sometimes cold demeanor that Alice means well, even if she does well to hide it. Lee Kuei - Red Dragon: Despite Richie's first impressions of Lee he soon learned that they were both almost identical in ideology, quickly bonding and becoming close friends even outside of the Hercules persona. While it is true that Richie has spent more of his time with Skull-Man, Lee is the one man Richie relates most to. Natasha Frost: Since their first meeting to discuss Hercules' relationship with the A.P.C.A., Richie has always considered the woman to be something of an enigma. A point of interest, at least. Richie's dealings with the organisation she works for have been extensive and she is unlike any of the agents he knows, seeing her work as a force of good and a chance to change the world for the better rather than simple a new method of being paid. For that reason, Richie has a great deal of respect for Frost and continues to grow closer to her by the mission. Trivia Category:Protagonist Category:Character Category:Genetic Category:Technological